


Dear Pyramus, Love Thisbe

by sapphic_ambitions



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon Rewrite, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Some Fluff, Yearning, everyone's older, let percy say fuck 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:00:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24193951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphic_ambitions/pseuds/sapphic_ambitions
Summary: "A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach twenty-one against all odds,"Percy Jackson and The Olympians Alternate Universe / rewrite where everyone’s older and everything's even gayer and Percy and Luke dated before Luke went to the dark side. Super fun to fight a war against your ex-boyfriend, right? Super fun when you're still in love with him, right? Right?
Relationships: Luke Castellan/Percy Jackson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 92





	Dear Pyramus, Love Thisbe

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to start us off by acknowledging the ridiculousness of this story idea. It's a ridiculous but I'm gonna take it seriously because it's quarantine and I have nothing else to do. This was inspired by the fact that I reread the original series like a week ago and I firmly believe Percy is bi and I'm a massive Luke Castellan apologist. Also if you follow me on tumblr (jo-march-is-a-lesbian) I'm constantly posting about "Let Percy Say Fuck 2020." You'll obviously notice that I changed the canon around a lot, and I do fully intend to write through the entire series. You might also notice that I've thrown in lots of easter eggs and references from some of my favorite queer books because why not? So anyway, yes this story is ridiculous but whatever. I have nothing to lose and I hope y'all enjoy it. xoxo

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

But honestly? It’s been pretty okay so far.

My name is Percy Jackson. I’m eighteen years old, and the gods are real. 

Like the Greek gods, the ones you learned about in school, but didn’t pay attention to your boring teacher’s lecture? Well, congrats. They don’t pay attention to you either. _Especially_ if you’re their kid. Yeah, the gods are real and they have kids called _demigods_. And those kids have serious issues. Mostly abandonment issues. I’d know that first hand. I’m one of them. 

For the past six years of my life, I’ve spent my summers at a haven for people like me, Camp Half-Blood. I was found when I was twelve years old by a satyr named Grover and the great centaur Chiron. They rescued me from an evil math teacher, and at Grover’s guidance, I found my way to Camp Half-Blood before anything worse found me. Now I know what you’re thinking: What could be worse than a math teacher? But she was actually a Fury from Hades. Hades, the god. Not the place. Well, also the place. But you get what I'm saying.

Hades sent Mrs. Dodds (my math teacher) because he’d discovered that my father had broken his oath about not having any more kids by having me. The Lord of the Underworld didn’t think that it was fair that my dad was allowed to get away with it, so he sent the Fury after me. At the time, I didn’t even know who my dad was, or why my math teacher was shouting “DIE, HONEY!” at me or how a pen turned into a sword or why no one believed me about Mrs. Dodds or why Grover was being weird or, well. You get the idea. It was a cluster fuck.

But Grover got me safely to Camp Half-Blood and relayed the message of my safety to my mom, Sally Jackson, the greatest person on the planet, and so began my summer.

I was claimed pretty immediately. Hades had let the cat out of the bag about me, so there was no point in denying it anymore. Chiron told me that the gods would hash out my dad’s punishment, but I’d be safe, for now. Wasn’t my fault that I was born. (Though some gods would disagree, for sure.) Chiron also said that it “wasn’t my time” or something like that. But I was like _twelve_ when I first came to camp so if Chiron said I didn’t need to worry about any stupid prophecies or whatever, I trusted him. The only thing I could do while we waited for whatever my future had in store was to train and prepare. Work on my swordsmanship and water works. 

Oh, yeah. My father is Poseidon. 

_The_ Poseidon. The Sea God. Earthshaker. Stormbringer. Father of Horses. Father of Percy.

Not that I’ve ever met him. He’s kept his distance over the last six years. I mean, I’ve often felt his presence through the wind coming off the salt water, but that’s it. He’s not really had a reason to visit, I guess. I haven’t gone on any quests. I haven’t really had any more monsters after me in a while, and if I have, I’ve been able to handle it. I’ve never been on any of the field trips to Olympus in the winter because I always spend the school year with my mom and my stepdad Paul. But, it’s fine with me. It’s not always a good thing to meet your godly parent. It can be a bit of a disappointment. Or, so I’m told.

But like I said, I haven’t been on a quest, so there’s really been no reason for Poseidon to visit me. That’s mostly when you’d meet your parent, when they have guidance and wisdom to bestow upon you. Quests are kind of frowned upon at Camp Half-Blood at the moment, unless it’s absolutely necessary or demanded by a god. Better to lay low, Chiron says. Embrace the peace while it lasts, he says. Besides, the last time a half-blood went on a quest- um, well. It, uh, didn’t go too well. 

Anyway.

I had just graduated high school, and my mom and I were celebrating by a one on one trip to Montauk, just me and her, just like the old days. I’d actually made it through the American Public Education System, miraculously, and that was cause for celebration. I was going back to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow, but for now, it was just me and my mom and the open road. 

I wish everyone in the world had a mom like Sally Jackson. She’d given up so much for her family, and for me, and yet retained her good spirit and pure heart. Having a son that was a natural monster magnet was not easy on her, and not easy to explain to Paul when they got married, but we’d learned to navigate it together. She always smelled like sweets, even though she didn’t work at the candy store in Union Station anymore, and could always make me feel better no matter what. Plus, she was super supportive and loving when I came out to her.

Oh, yeah. Fun fact. I’m bisexual, too. I’ve even got a boyfriend.

Speaking of:

“Have you heard from Luke, lately?” Sally asked, eyes trained on the road in front of her. Her tone was light, casual, which I appreciated. She knew that we’d been having... _difficulties_ lately.

I sighed, and looked at my hands. “A little bit, but not enough. And even when we do talk... I don’t know, Mom. I feel like something happened, but he won’t talk to me about it. He’s barely talking to me at all. I just feel like he’s about to...” I cut myself off, not wanting to say it out loud.

“Does Annabeth know what’s going on? Has she said anything?” She asked gently. No doubt she knew what I was about to say.

I shook my head. “No, but she’s definitely noticed a change in him, too,”

Sally sighed, running a hand through her long brown hair. “Well, honey, I think you’ll just have to wait until you see him tomorrow in person. But you two have been through a lot together, I’m sure you’ll get through this, too,”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything else. I’m not sure I believed her.

Luke and I have been together for two years, since he kissed me on my sixteenth birthday in the woods of Camp Half-Blood. It had been a long time coming, to be honest. I’d been drawn to the son of Hermes the moment I met him. And then even more so when I watched him sword fight. That was even before I figured out that I was bi. I thought I was just “a really good ally” who “really admired Luke” and “just thought he was really handsome. There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

Oh, Percy, you sweet disaster bisexual. 

Luke was only a year older than me. Well, older than me and our best friend, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, also bisexual. There had been a brief moment when we were thirteen that she and I _thought about_ what would happen if we liked each other. And _maybe_ we would have fallen for each other, if Luke hadn’t been in the picture. But he was. And the picture was of a handsome, tall, strong blonde with eyes that I could just get lost in. And had been getting lost in happily for a little over a year, until Luke went on his quest last summer. He changed after that. Remember how I said the last quest hadn’t gone well? Yeah.

The Luke I’d fallen in love with (and yes, we’ve both said _the L word_ to each other) was kind and generous and helpful. Always willing to extend warmth and hospitality to everyone around him. And he still was like that, sort of. But his quest made him....harder. He didn’t just get a (sexy) scar on his face, he got an edge. He smiled less. Trained harder. Had less time for me and Annabeth. And even then, I was pretty much the only person he let see his soft side anymore. Some days, I wasn’t sure he had a soft side. And he didn’t like to talk about his quest or anything that happened on it either. It was the beginnings of him shutting me out. 

And then, around the time of the winter solstice, he changed even more. I barely heard from him, and when we did Iris Message, he was distant, forgetful, not paying attention. 

I’d never been in a serious relationship before Luke, but I figured these were the usual signs that I was about to get dumped.

So yeah, being a half-blood was super great. Lots of fun learning about the gods and monsters. Really cool to be fluent in Ancient Greek. Super stellar learning how to sword fight. Great excitement to win capture the flag. Love getting to spend the summers with a hundred of my closest friends and feel like I belong somewhere. Super awesome when you’re about to get dumped by your boyfriend of two years.

Mom could sense the dark direction my mood had taken. She broke out the smores materials immediately when we got to the cabin. She encouraged me to not think about it, for now. I’d deal with Luke tomorrow, for better or worse. Tonight was about me and my mom and the fact that I graduated high school. So I ate my smores and swapped stories with my mom and tried not to think about my breaking heart.

That night, I had a super weird dream.

Now, demigods are _supposed_ to have weird dreams, and I’ve had a few here and there over the last six years. But it was never anything super important, and I’d generally always forget about it by the time I woke up in the morning. They were nothing like this. Two animals, an eagle and a horse, fighting on a storming beach. My first thought was “ _What the fuck are the gods up to now?”_ and my second thought was that it was my responsibility to stop them. I tried to run towards them, but I didn’t get there in time, and the eagle reached out with razor sharp talons to the horse and-

I woke up.

I woke up to another storm, actually. One that rattled the house and shook the earth. My mom woke up with the next thunder clap, looking at me with wild eyes. A fear and an understanding passed through us. This was not a natural storm. Something was happening between the gods.

And then, because a raging hurricane wasn’t enough, there was a pounding at our door. 

Sally got to her feet first, grabbing the baseball bat she kept by her bed (I’d trained her well, after six years of demigod life), and threw open the door. And in through the door stumbled one of my best friends, Grover, furry haunches and all. 

“Percy!” He cried, drenched and panting. “Thank the Gods I found you. It’s almost here. We have to get back to camp _now._ It’s all beginning!”

Sally didn’t even hesitate, or wait to ask _what_ was beginning before she turned around and started throwing essentials in a bag. I lunged for my shoes, my jacket, and my sword (which was currently in pen form on my nightstand) but I wanted answers.

“What’s beginning? And why do you look like you just ran here? And _what’s_ almost here?”

Grover shook his head, sending water droplets everywhere. “No time to explain. Ms. Jackson, lovely to see you again, but we gotta go!” 

Sally turned around, car keys in hand and a raincoat over her nightgown. “Let’s go, boys. _Now,_ ”

Grover was wildly unhelpful as we tore through the night. He couldn’t answer any of my questions because he was stumbling over his words too much. I groaned and turned to look out the back window, where through lightning flashes, I could just _almost_ see something in the distance. I could certainly hear it, but I couldn’t describe what the noises were.

“And Chiron is really stressed and, and Annabeth has been locked up in her cabin studying for days,” Grover was moaning and stuttering all over the place. My mom and I exchanged glances. “And, it’s just, _awful_ and don’t even get me started on Mr. D and the, you know, the nymphs are getting so pissy and Luke-”

My head snapped around to look at Grover in the backseat. “What about Luke?”

Grover paled, if that was possible. “Nothing!” He squeaked, and I would have throttled him if he wasn’t one of my closest friends. “Luke is nothing! I mean, not nothing, he’s something! Not like _something,_ but-”

“Grover,” my mom cut him off. “How did you know to come get us?”

Sally Jackson, always coming in clutch with the brain cells.

Grover gulped. “Chiron told me to. He said he’d gotten a warning from Apollo,”

I threw up my hands. “What the fuck!”

“Percy, _language,_ ”

“No, what the fuck!” I ignored my mother’s scolding. “I've barely gotten a whiff of wind from any of the gods in six years and suddenly somebody who’s not even my _dad_ is coming to my rescue? What the actual fuck!”

“I don’t know, Percy!” Grover said. “Ms. Jackson, how close are we?”

Sally gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Almost there,”

I turned around to look out the back window again, and I looked just in time to see another lightning flash, and the figure running towards us.

“ _Is that a FUCKING MINOTAUR?”_

I didn’t get a scolding that time. Sally just pressed the pedal harder.

I’d like to say that we got to the camp border just fine. I’d like to report that my mom was able to drop us off safely with a kiss to both of our cheeks and a “Bye, sweetie!” as she waved at us. I’d like to say that we didn’t _total our fucking car_ , that we didn’t flip into a ditch and come out aching and bleeding and Grover barely conscious. I’d _love_ to say that we all got to the border in time before the Minotaur, because it definitely was a Minotaur, caught up with us and I didn’t have to fight it. I wish I could say that we all got away unscratched and safe.

But that’s not what happened.

What happened was that I had to face the beast, trying to defend my mom and my unconscious friend. What happened was that I wasn’t good enough, and the Minotaur got my mom. What happened was that Sally Jackson disappeared in a flash of golden light and I took down the Minotaur in a screaming rage, until I was left with nothing but my sword and the horn of the monster in my hands. What happened was that I somehow found the strength in my aching body to drag Grover over the border, crying as we stumbled onto the porch of the Big House. The last thing I remembered was a familiar face and bright gray eyes before I collapsed into darkness. 

I was in and out of it for what must have been hours. I heard familiar voices, ones that I _knew_ , but I was too out of it to really place them. At one point, I was sure that a girl was spoon feeding me pudding, and she might have muttered “Get it the fuck together, Seaweed Brain,” but I was out cold before I could really register it.

When I finally came to, I’d hoped that the first person I’d see would have dashing looks, blue eyes, blonde hair, a sexy scar running down his cheek, that kind of thing. Something super romantic to wake up to, seeing that he’d waited by my bedside while I slumbered, my guardian angel watching over me. Something to make me feel better in this waking nightmare I was living.

But no, the first thing I saw was my favorite teacher, Chiron, in wheelchair form, sitting next to my bedside. He leaned forward in his seat as I woke up. “Percy, how are you feeling?”

_Lousy._ I wanted to say, but my body hurt so much that instead I just let out a groan. It got the message out just fine. On the other side of my bed, I saw a flash of blonde hair, and I allowed my heart to reach up into my throat for just a millisecond as I turned my head, but it was just Annabeth with a glass of nectar and a bendy straw for me.

Well, not _just_ Annabeth. Annabeth Chase was my best friend in the whole world, my platonic partner in crime, the only one with functioning brain cells in the camp who kept me from completely losing my head over stupid stuff. It was _super_ great to see her, it’s just.... She wasn’t the blonde I was hoping to see. Even so, I drank the nectar she offered and accepted the concerned shoulder punch from her.

“Percy,” Chiron said, drawing my attention back over to him. “What happened last night?”

I knew he meant more than “ _The Minotaur attacked. The End._ ” because he’d been the one to send us the warning in the first place. He meant more " _Why did you show up a bleeding, sobbing hot mess on the front porch like some twelve year old and not a trained demigod?”_

So I told my story. Everything from my dream to dragging Grover across the property line. There was a lump in my throat and a sting in my eyes as I told it, barely choking out the words as I described my mom’s final moments. 

Annabeth rubbed my arm comfortingly. “Percy, I’m so sorry,” She whispered.

“Sally Jackson was a brave hero,” Chiron sighed, and then looked off to the side, deep in thought. “And I think this is directly related to the Master Bolt being stolen,”

There was a brief moment of silence. And then:

“What the _fuck_?” I swore, loudly. “The Master Bolt’s been fucking _stolen_?” Annabeth glared at me. We all knew better than to swear in front of Chiron. But neither of them tried to tell me otherwise so I threw my hands up, or at least I tried to, weak as I was. “Why did no one tell me that the goddamned Master Bolt was stolen? That’s kind of a big fucking deal!”

Listen, my father is the god of the sea. I’m legally allowed to cuss like a sailor.

Chiron and Annabeth exchanged an uncomfortable glance. I hated when they did that.

“Percy,” Annabeth turned back to me, her voice delicate, like she was afraid of upsetting me. “We thought you _did_ know. You talk to Luke so much that we thought he’d have filled you in on this by now. We’ve known about the Master Bolt since the winter solstice,”

My heart practically dropped out my ass.

An awkward silence fell over the room and a wave of embarrassment washed over me. My boyfriend knew that the King of the Gods' all powerful weapon had been stolen and he hadn’t even bothered to tell me. I felt like my relationship’s dirty laundry had just been spread all over my bed for them to see. And I couldn’t exactly be like “ _Ah yes, well I think Luke’s planning on breaking up with me, so he and I haven’t been talking so much lately,_ ” so I just sat there and stared at my hands.

Chiron cleared his throat. “Well, maybe you should get some rest, Percy-”

_CRASH._

_“Where is he?!”_

All three of our heads whipped around to the door, where we heard pounding feet coming our way. Annabeth was out of her chair in seconds, drawing her dagger. For a brief moment, I was worried that someone else was here to attack me. But then bursting through the door was one Luke Castellan. 

As worried as I’d been recently that I was going to get dumped, seeing Luke released a knot in my chest I’d been holding for far too long. He looked tanner than the last time I’d seen him in person, with his blonde hair sticking up everywhere and bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping well. But his eyes looked warm, just the way I always remembered them. They looked more “ _Time to smother my boyfriend in kisses because I was worried about him,”_ and less “ _Time to dump this asshole.”_ I could work with that. 

And the moment those blue eyes locked on me, he exhaled and rushed to my side. “ _Percy_ ,” he breathed, sliding into the seat that Annabeth had just vacated and slipping his hand into mine. “Thank the gods. I came as soon as I heard,”

Annabeth cleared her throat, and Chiron got the message. “We’ll leave you two to catch up,” he said, rolling out of the room with Annabeth behind him. The door shut, and we were alone. Now, normally whenever Luke and I were alone with the door shut, it meant a good time. But I seriously doubted that was about to happen, even if I was feeling up to it.

“You gave me quite a scare, Jackson,” Luke said, running his hand through my hair. “I was down in the armory when Travis burst in and said that you were hurt. I ran straight here-”

“Are you going to break up with me?” I blurted out, unable to contain myself a second longer, and then immediately cringed.

Luke looked like I’d slapped him. He even physically leaned back in his chair. His eyebrows got all scrunched up and his mouth dropped open. His eyes searched my face and his hand went slack in my own. “ _What_?” He asked, voice strained.

So, actually, maybe my timing wasn’t great. Probably could have waited on that one.

“It’s just, you’ve been so distant since the solstice,” I confessed, trying to grip his hand tighter, which was hard because of my general lack of strength. “And the last time we IM’ed you said that we ‘needed to talk’ and I’ve been emotionally preparing myself for _days_ to come back here and have you dump me,” He said nothing for a few moments, and I held my breath.

“Percy, I’m not going to break up with you,” Luke finally said, and I exhaled. Luke shook his head. “I- ugh. I’m sorry that I’ve been distant lately, and you’re right, I know I have been. I’m sorry,” he sighed, and looked away. “A lot happened at the solstice and I wanted to talk to you about it in person, not over IM,” I’d never seen him like this before. Almost like he was...

Scared.

He shook his head. “But it’s not important right now. What’s important is that you are _here_ and _safe_ and...” Those brilliant blue eyes turned back to me, and he leaned in close again, touching the side of my face with one hand and gripping my hand with the other. “And I love you, Percy Jackson. And you’re not getting rid of me if I can help it,” He said it with such ferocity, like something else had recently threatened our relationship. But whatever, I wasn’t getting dumped so I wasn’t going to worry about it at the moment.

“So... you’re really not going to break up with me?” I let myself slip into a smile.

Luke laughed, and it was the best thing I’d heard in weeks. “No, I’m not gonna break up with you, Percy. You have nothing to worry about,” He smiled at me in such a way that I swear to the gods, I fell in love all over again. “I promise, hero. I’m not gonna break your heart,”

I couldn’t help my grin. I loved when he got like this. I loved when he called me _hero_ like it was the greatest thing in the world. “You promise?” 

He returned the grin and pulled me close for a kiss. I _melted_. Kissing Luke was the only thing that ever felt truly right, like the world narrowed down to our points of contact: our lips, his hand on the back of my neck, my hand in his hair, our intertwined hands. When he did pull away, he pressed soft, swift kisses to my nose and my cheeks, I couldn’t help laughing.

“I promise,” He continued. “I swear it on my cabin’s loot,”

I made a face. “Come on, you can do better than that. Your cabin’s loot is a bunch of junk,”

“Fine, you asshole,” He scoffed and rolled his eyes, where they landed on something beside me. He reached over me and grabbed my sword (Well, it was in pen form, but whatever) and held it up for me to see it. “I swear on this sword, I’m not going to break your heart,”

“Good,” I said, kissing him again. “You better not,”

If only I’d known what that promise would cost us. 

There were other things for us to talk about, for sure. But for a brief moment, I could forget about how terrible everything was and just kiss my boyfriend like it was the only thing that mattered.

Will Solace from the Apollo cabin cleared me to leave the med bay, and Luke helped me out of the Big House and down to my cabin. Annabeth and Chiron were up by Thalia’s Tree, and we waved at them as we passed by. I sent Annabeth a thumbs up when Luke wasn’t looking. 

Since it was a beautiful day out (as all the days were beautiful in Camp Half-Blood), a lot of the campers were out and about. I waved at Mr. D’s twins, Silena Beauregard, some of Luke’s siblings and blatantly ignored Clarisse and the other Ares kids. And even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth at the center of the commons area smouldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. It was nice to see the camp up and running and so normal. And quite honestly, it was nice to see my cabin again. 

In the U shape of cabins, mine seemed the least impressive to others, but the most at home to me. It was low to the ground, gray as the ocean floor, and windows facing the sea. I was the only one who lived there as the only child of Poseidon, but that was more than fine with me. I mean, it used to really bother me, especially when I was younger and jealous of my friends that had siblings to hang out with. But it became an added bonus when I got older. Particularly, when Luke and I started dating. I know what you’re thinking, isn’t there a rule about two campers being alone in the same cabin together? Yeah, but they wrote those rules about a guy and girl, not two guys. Loophole, bitches! 

Besides, my dad’s never seemed to care about us “ _disrespecting the Poseidon cabin_ ” or us “ _wrecking the Poseidon cabin_ ” so there wasn’t really a reason for us to stop. During the summer, Luke spent more nights than most sleeping in my room. So, again, really nice to not have siblings. 

Gay rights all around for the Poseidon cabin.

Luke joined me in the cabin now, easing me into my bunk and then crawling in behind me under the covers. I’m sure he probably had other things to be doing during the day, head counselor duties or whatever. But at the moment, he seemed to be more occupied with his boyfriend duties: spooning me while I napped. And I slept like a _rock._ Passed out completely the second Luke’s arms wrapped around me and didn’t dream at all. That’s boyfriend power for you.

Luke woke me up before dinner, so I’d have time to hit the showers and change before joining the rest of the camp. I’d never been so excited for a Camp Half-Blood dinner before. My stomach grumbled as I trudged up to the pavilion, greeting friends as I went. It kind of sucked that I had to sit at the Poseidon table all by myself instead of with Luke and Annabeth, but I was more or less used to it by now. And I was also used to scraping in the juiciest portion of my meal into the fire and sending a prayer up to my dad for something, any kind of sign from him, and getting nothing in return. Tonight it stung a little extra though, knowing that my mom was gone and there was nothing my dad would do about it, nothing he _could_ do about it. Nothing _I_ could do about it.

Unless.....

But no. There’s no way I’d ever get a quest for it. 

I ate my whole meal while frowning. When we’d all finished eating, Chiron pounded his hoof for our attention, and Mr. D sighed. I hadn’t interacted with the god since I’d gotten back, but that was more than fine with me. Every time the two of us spoke, I was in danger of losing my mind. Literally. He threatened me with it often.

“Well, I suppose I’d better say hello to you assholes,” Mr. D said. A few of the younger campers covered their ears, causing their older siblings to roll their eyes. “Well, hello. Chiron would like me to tell you all that Capture the Flag is Friday. Cabin Five presently holds the laurels.”

Clarisse stood up and cheered while her cabin mates pounded on the table. Annabeth and I exchanged an eye roll. 

“Personally,” Mr. D said, “I couldn’t give a shit, but congratulations. Also, we should welcome back to camp Peter Johnson-”

“Percy Jackson,” Chiron corrected.

“Percy Jackson,” Mr. D waved his hand lazily. “Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly little campfire,” 

About typical for a back to camp welcome. Everyone cheered and made our way towards the amphitheater, where Michael Yew and Lee Fletcher led the camp in a singalong. I slid in on the bench next to Luke and Annabeth slid in next to me and crushed both of us in a massive group hug. All things considered, it was good to be back with my people. To have Annabeth beside me, loudly (and badly) singing “ _This Land is Minos’s Land_ ” and to have Luke’s hand intertwined with my own and to see the campfire flickering across his face and his bright smile.

There’s something sacred about a campfire, if you ask me. It’s the best time to be in love.

The next few days before Capture the Flag went on, business as usual. In the morning, Annabeth and I taught Ancient Greek and Mythology (Well, I guess it wasn’t mythology to us) to the younger campers. We were two of the oldest counselors, and I’d been roped into doing it with her years ago, even though I was mostly there as emotional support. The afternoons were spent doing various outdoors activities. Archery lessons (which, newsflash, I still sucked at), foot racing (which I hated), teaching swimming lessons (the only guy in the whole camp qualified to teach it) and teaching sword fighting in the arena with Luke. It was fun to teach a class together, and get to sword fight each other and then make out in the armory afterwards.

  
  


I hadn’t really gotten to spend a lot of time with Annabeth since I’d gotten back (mostly cause I was spending time with Luke), but Thursday night we were _lesson planning_. Which was kind of lame, but I enjoyed getting to hang out with her. She and I sat at the conference table (ping pong table) in the Big House, sorting through our notes. We were planning on teaching about famous Greek lovers and the tragedies that fell upon them. Silena suggested it, and I doubted her at first, but there was actually a lot of material. Achilles and Patroclus, Orpheus and Eurydice, Pyramus and Thisbe, Eros and Psyche, that kind of thing. There were a lot of heroes that didn’t get their happy ending.

I don’t know that I could name a single hero who was happy.

“Ugh, Achilles and Patroclus,” I sighed, propping my feet up on the table. “They’re my favorite to read about,”

“Also, a total bummer,” Annabeth said, pointing her pen at me. 

“These are all total bummers, Annabeth. We’re literally covering tragic lovers,” I said. “But _they_ have the best love story. Childhood friends turned to lovers who were beside each other throughout the Trojan War? Two men loving each other for decades? Ugh, there’s nothing like it. It’s the only thing that matters,” 

“Yeah, until Achilles’ pride got in the way and Patroclus paid the price for it,” She pointed out. 

I threw a wad of paper at her. “Shut up,”

“Didn’t you and Luke go as them for the costume party last year?” She asked, leaning back in her chair.

I sighed dreamily, remembering the party thrown by Mr. D’s twins and the free flowing punch and a golden boy dressed in golden armor. “Hmm, and Luke made a very sexy Achilles,” 

She laughed and rolled her eyes at me. “Whatever,”

“Okay then, who’s your favorite?” I asked, lifting up the list I had in front of me. “Jason and Medea?” 

“Of course not,” She said it like I’d insulted her honor. “My favorite is Pyramus and Thisbe. They were the original star crossed lovers, and Shakespeare’s inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. They were children of opposing families who could only speak to each other through a crack in the wall. And when they tried to meet in person in the garden one night, there was a mix up and Pyramus stabs himself and then Thisbe stabs herself,”

“Nifty,” I said. “What’s the moral?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes at me. “Is there ever a moral in Greek stories? Sometimes two people fall in love when they shouldn’t and they pay the price for it,”

I shrugged. “Maybe the moral should be about not falling in love at all. If they hadn’t tried to meet, they wouldn’t have died.”

“Is that what you’re gonna tell the twelve year olds tomorrow? Don’t fall in love or you’ll die?”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, “Or maybe it’s more about the sins of the world around them for not allowing them to be together. If they’d been able to just _be in love_ , they would have lived,”

“But their families didn’t kill them, they killed themselves,” she argued back, leaning forward against the table.

“Yeah, but if there hadn’t been a wall in the first place, and if they hadn’t feared their parents' reactions, they wouldn’t have had to sneak around. And then there wouldn’t have been a mix up and no one would have died. They could have been happy if not for the situation they were in that was brought on by outside forces. They did nothing wrong by falling in love and it’s not their fault that the world they lived in couldn’t handle their love,”

Annabeth thought this over and leaned back in her seat, pursing her lips. Her gray eyes studied me closely. “You’re smarter than you look, Jackson,”

“So I’m told,”

Capture the flag was hands down my favorite thing we did at Camp Half-Blood.

Friday after dinner, Annabeth led her cheering and screaming siblings into the pavilion carrying a large gray banner with the symbol of Athena on it: a barn owl above an olive tree. On the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her siblings stood with the Ares banner and its bloody spear and boar’s head. Athena had made an alliance with Hermes, Apollo, and of course, Poseidon: party of one. Ares had everyone else in the camp: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. I turned to Luke beside me and nudged my shoulder against his. “At least we get to fight together, even if we’re under the banner of Athena,”

He grinned. “We’ll see about that,”

I raised an eyebrow. “Whose side are you _actually_ on, Luke?”

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn’t. The scar on his face made him look almost... _evil_ in the moonlight. Fun thought to have about your boyfriend. “We’ve made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. We’ll see what happens after that,” He slung his sword on his shoulder, looking every bit a warrior. I wanted to make out with him _so_ bad.

The conch horn blew and the games began. 

Annabeth had a brilliant plan, because of course she did, and placed me on border patrol. It was actually a pretty smart move, putting the guy who can control water in the creek. I’d be able to power wash anybody who tried to get past. I blasted some Aphrodite kids with creek water to keep them from crossing and that did _not_ make them happy. I even had to fight off Clarisse and her goons at one point. You’d think they’d know better than to pick a fight with Poseidon’s kid while he’s standing in water, but they’re idiots and did it anyway. I even broke Clarisse’s electric spear, which _really_ did not make her happy. You could say my whole job for the evening was just to piss off the other side, and I did it spectacularly. 

It was a pretty short game, though. Because soon I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing towards the boundary line with the Ares banner held high, the Stoll brothers flanking him and fighting off the Hephaestus kids. Clarisse let out a feral scream and tried to chase after them, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across it into friendly territory and I shouted: “ _Yeah_ , that’s my baby!” 

Our side exploded into cheers, and the hideous boar shimmered and turned into a silver banner with a caduceus flowing proudly in the wind. Luke got lifted up on the shoulders of his siblings and Chiron blew the conch horn, declaring the game won. I laughed loudly as Luke blew me a kiss from across the clearing. Victory never felt so good.

Annabeth appeared next to me, taking off her Yankees cap. She looked pleased with herself, and I elbowed her. “Way to go, Wise Girl,” I said, and she laughed. “Another successful defeat of Ares,”

“Yeah, but you better watch your back, though,” She said, looking over at Clarisse and her broken spear. “I’m pretty sure she’s gonna kick your ass later,”

“Let her try,” I smirked, looking instead at my celebrating boyfriend. “It’s good to see him smiling like that,” I said softly, so only Annabeth could hear.

She nodded beside me. “Yeah, it is,”

We might have discussed it further, but just then, a howl ripped through the forest. The campers immediately fell silent and dropped Luke from their shoulders. Chiron shouted at the archers to ready themselves, and Annabeth and I drew our weapons. Because there, on the rocks above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava red eyes and fangs like daggers. And it was looking straight at me. Nobody moved, for a few moments everyone held their breath. 

And then I heard Luke’s voice: “Percy, _run_!”

I ignored him and pushed Annabeth to the side as the beast leapt through the air. And just as it hit me, as I stumbled backwards and landed on my ass in the creek, I heard a cascade of thwacking sounds. The beast fell dead at my feet, neck full of arrows. 

Luke was by my side in seconds, pulling me up from the water and away from the dead monster. Chiron trotted up next to us, bow still in hand and a solemn expression on his face.

“Holy _fuck,_ ” Annabeth said. “That’s a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don’t... they’re not supposed to...”

“Someone summoned it,” Chiron declared. “Someone inside the camp,”

Luke grip on me tightened, and I was grateful for his presence. Clarisse tried to blame me, of course, cause she’s a dick, but Chiron silenced her. 

“Head counselors will meet tomorrow morning,” Chiron said, turning to the campers. His eyes were dark and sad. “We have much to discuss,” Annabeth and I glanced at each. “Until then, everyone return to your cabins and rest well,” Chiron said, waving at all of us. The crowd dispersed, everyone mumbling and whispering to each other. Annabeth nodded at me before running off to join her siblings and then it was just me and Luke and the dead hellhound.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked, his hand finding the back of my neck and blue eyes searching my face. “There was a second there that I thought-”

“Hey, I’m fine,” I said, placing my hand on his arm and rubbing my thumb against it. “I’m all in one piece, no reason to worry,”

“I have plenty of reasons to worry,” He muttered, looking at the fading hellhound. He turned back to me, eyes dark. “But as long as you’re okay, that’s _all_ that matters to me,”

He said it with such ferocity that I almost took a step back. I blinked, and shook my head. “I’m fine, Luke, really,” 

He sighed. “Okay. I better go take care of my cabin. They looked a little shaken up,” He looked over his shoulder at the retreating campers. “But I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?” 

I nodded, and he kissed me swiftly before trudging after the other campers, leaving me alone in the forest with the fading shadow of a dead hellhound and a sinking feeling in my chest. 

The head counselors met at the conference table (ping pong table) first thing the next morning.

Around the table was me, Grover, Annabeth, Luke, Clarisse, Silena, Beckendorf, Katie Gardner, Lee Fletcher, Castor and Pollux, Chiron (in wheelchair form), and Mr. D himself. Mr. D didn’t look like he wanted to be there, but he was sitting by his sons and with a wave of his hand, Castor and Pollux had cans that said “Share a Coke with Dad” in front of them. Being eight in the morning, there wasn’t a lot of chatter between us. Annabeth was rubbing her eyes awake and Silena was still applying her morning make up. Luke looked like he was about to doze off and I elbowed him before his head completely drooped down. Chiron cleared his throat, and the meeting began.

“First thing we must discuss,” Chiron sighed, looking weary. He’d probably been up all night, knowing him. “The hellhound. Until we figure out who let it into camp, we must be on high alert for another attack,”

“I still think it was Percy,” Clarisse muttered, and Annabeth kicked her under the table.

“We mustn't start turning on each other,” Chiron scolded. “We must all work together if we are going to keep camp safe. You all are our oldest campers,” He said, looking at all of us. “And our best trained demigods. You will be responsible for taking care of the younger campers and each other in the coming days,” We all looked at each other, taking in the sight of our fellow demigods, acknowledging that we were all we had going into this fight. Whatever the future held, we demigods had to stick together and look out for each other.

Chiron sighed again (there seemed to be a lot of that these days), and ran a hand over his face. “There is more,”

I frowned. What could possibly be worse than monsters from the Underworld sneaking into camp?

“Apollo has given his warning,” Chiron said. “The time of the Great Prophecy approaches,”

Everyone’s head snapped towards me. 

Oh.

That would be worse.

We’d all heard whispers about the prophecy over the past several years. Especially the summer I was claimed, it was all people would talk about. We’d been able to avoid it when we were kids. Chiron insisted that we didn’t dwell on it too much when we were so young. It was why he insisted that we only go on necessary quests. Lay low, embrace the peace while it lasted until we had to confront something we couldn’t avoid. We’d been able to grow up without the weight of the world on our shoulders. Well, my shoulders. 

Because the prophecy was about _me._

I didn’t know much about the prophecy. Chiron had refused to let me hear it. But I knew one thing: it was about a half-blood of the Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. And I was the only child of any of them that was still kicking. 

“Apollo warned us at the winter solstice, and again the day the Minotaur went after Percy,” Chiron explained, “I had hoped that we had more time before... But, with the Master Bolt being stolen and the hellhound attacking camp, it’s time to act,”

“Okay, great,” I said. “Tell me the full prophecy,”

Chiron shifted uncomfortably. “The time is not yet right for that prophecy, Percy. You see, the Great Prophecy is about the half-blood of the eldest gods-”

“Yeah, I know,” 

“To reach _twenty-one_ against all odds,” Chiron finished. 

I felt like I’d just been dunked in ice water. “Sorry, _what?”_

“So, like I said, Percy, now is not the right time-”

“But _why_?” I said, clenching my fists under the table. “Why can’t I hear it now?”

Lee Fletcher shrugged. “It’s not always a good thing to know the full details of a prophecy,” I wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up, but I restrained myself.

“Besides, Percy, there _are_ more pressing matters,’ Chiron tried, but I wasn’t having it.

A small wave of anger rushed through me. “So, what, I’m just going to have to spend the next few years of my life wondering what’s going to happen to me?” I crossed my arms. “Why did Apollo even bother to “warn” us when you already knew we were getting closer to it,”

Mr. D set down his coke can, and it was somehow the loudest thing in the room. A silence fell over us as we all turned and looked at the god expectantly. “Because, _Percy Jackson_ , we have been living in relative peace these last few years. Even when you were claimed, you were so young that the other gods didn’t really think you were a threat. But now you’re eighteen, and they believe you’ve stolen the Master Bolt-”

“ _What?”_

“And Apollo has decided he’s got a soft spot for you, or something,” Mr. D continued, “So he saw fit to warn Chiron that things are about to get a lot more complicated in our lives. In _all_ of our lives. And it all begins and ends with you,” He said, pointing a chubby finger at me. 

The other campers were deadly silent. Luke placed a firm hand on my knee under the table, trying to comfort me. It didn’t work.

“Can we go back to the part where the gods think _I_ stole the master bolt?” I said, turning to Chiron. “I’ve never even been to Olympus,”

Chiron sighed. “Unfortunately, Percy, Apollo made his little announcement to the other gods the day before Zeus’ bolt was stolen. The Lord of the Skies seems to think that it was your stealing of the bolt that set everything into motion,”

Luke’s grip tightened. 

“But I didn’t steal anything!” I protested. “And Zeus is an _idiot_ if he thinks-” Thunder rumbled, cutting me off. I huffed and leaned back in my chair. “None of this makes sense to me,”

Chiron sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Well, I’m not sure it will for a while, Percy. The best thing we can do right now is send you on a quest to retrieve the master bolt before the summer solstice. That is the deadline Zeus has set before he unleashes hell upon Poseidon and the gods go to war,”

Oh, well that’s just fucking great. I even said so. Annabeth glared at me.

Chiron looked like he was trying not to reprimand me for my language. “What better peace offering than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus’ property?”

“But if Poseidon doesn’t have it, where is it?” 

“I don’t know, Percy,” Chiron said. “But if you accept this quest, you must seek the council of the Oracle,”

Luke’s grip went so tight I almost winced. I turned to look back at him and he had a wild, fearful look in his eyes. I realized that he was the only camper at the table that had gone up to see the Oracle. He was afraid for me, and what I would see if I accepted the quest.

Did I even want to accept? My dad’s done nothing for me in the last six years of my life. He only claimed me because he _had_ to, and he did nothing to help my mom or send me any kind of a sign that things were going to be okay, no matter how much I prayed to him.

So why should I help him?

But... then I looked up at Luke, and at Annabeth, and all the other campers who were staring at me. Their lives were in my hands. I was the only person who could stop the world from turning upside down and the gods unleashing chaos upon each other. _These_ people were my family. And I would easily go to war for them.

I put my hand over Luke’s and squeezed it, trying to send the “ _I’m gonna be okay”_ message before turning back to Chiron. “Okay,” I nodded. “I accept,”

I’d never been to the attic before, in all my years as a camper. It was up four flights of stairs and through a trapdoor and it was _cluttered_ with trophies from past quests. There were some pretty gnarly things on the shelves (including a hydra head from Woodstock) but the grossest thing in the attic sat by the window: a mummy. A shriveled up little girl with decaying skin and beaded necklaces. She’d been dead for a long ass time.

I shivered as she sat up on her stool, mouth dropping open and green smoke pouring out from it. Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering in through one ear and crawling through my brain. _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask._

Fucking Hell.

I didn’t say that though. I said: “What is my destiny?”

The mist poured in thick, swirling around me and the table in front of me, and suddenly there was a man sitting at the table in front of me. It was Paul Blofis, my stepdad. Shit, I needed to contact him and fill him in on what was happening with me and Mom before he set out like a nationwide manhunt for us or something. 

Paul smiled at me from the table, and for a moment I was comforted. Then he spoke in the raspy voice of the Oracle: “ _You shall go west and face the god who has turned,”_

Okay, that’s at least a starting place.

_“You shall find was stolen and see it safely returned,”_

Even better.

_“You shall be betrayed in the place your life began,”_

Well, fuck me.

_“And you will fail to save what matters most, in the end,”_

That’s just fucking excellent. 

The moment the mummy went lifeless, I scrambled down the trap door and down the stairs on shaky legs and didn’t stop til I made it back to the conference room (rec room).

The only people who were left in the room were Luke, Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover. Everyone else must have been dismissed, but that was more than fine with me. I didn’t want them to see me look so shaken up. Luke leapt to his feet the moment I walked in, and everyone’s heads turned to me, holding their breath and waiting.

I smiled weakly. “Well, the good news is we’ll get the bolt back,”

Chiron frowned. “What did the Oracle say _exactly?_ ” He pressed. “It’s very important,”

I stared at my shoes. “She... she said I would go west and face the god who had turned and that I would find what was stolen and see it safely returned,”

“Anything else?” Chiron asked, clearly not buying my bullshit. 

I bit my lip. How could I admit to them that I was going to fail, _and_ be betrayed when I was supposed to be this big hero? I shook my head and said “No, that’s it,”

Annabeth frowned at me like she could see right through me. She probably could. 

“Very well, Percy,” Chiron said, leaning back. “But know this: the Oracles words often have a double meaning. Don’t dwell on it too much. Most of the time the meaning isn’t clear until the events have come to pass.”

“Great, thanks,” I said, and then immediately changed the subject “So who’s the god in the west?”

“Hades, obviously,” Annabeth said, standing up, too. “Not only is he located in California but he famously hates his brothers. If Zeus and Poseidon went to war, he’d be the first person to benefit from it,” Annabeth snapped her fingers. “ _And_ Hades was at Olympus for the winter solstice _and_ it was a hellhound that attacked you in the forest. He must have stolen the bolt and hid it in the Underworld and then blamed Percy for it because of what Apollo said,”

I pointed at Annabeth. “I want you on the quest,” She grinned at me and nodded. 

Grover shook his head. “But if we know it’s Hades, can’t we just relay that information to Zeus and Poseidon so they can hash it out between the three of them?”

Luke scowled. It almost took me aback how dark his face got. “The gods operate through humans, Grover, you know that. _They_ can’t go into each other’s territories without invitations, but _heroes_ can go anywhere, do anything. No god would be held responsible for a hero’s actions,” Luke turned around and lightly kicked his chair with his shoe. “Percy is being _used_ ,”

I couldn’t say I disagreed with him. 

“So, let me get this straight,” I said, crossing my arms. “So I’m supposed to haul ass across the country and confront the Lord of the Dead,”

“Correct,” Chiron said.

“Find the most powerful weapon in the universe,”

“Correct,”

“And get it back to Olympus in ten days,”  
  


“That sounds about right,”

I took in a deep breath. Crossed my arms then uncrossed them and put my hands on my hips.

I had to go on this quest, for my friends and the sake of the world. Pull up my big boy britches and save the universe. No backing down, no running away from it, no escaping. 

Plus, if I was already in the Underworld...

Well. That might just be an added bonus.

“Okay,” I finally said. “Piece of cake,” I turned to Annabeth. “You’re really in?”

She nodded. “If you’re going to save the world, I’m the best person to keep you from messing up,” 

“Damn right you are,” I high fived her, and then turned to Luke. “What about you, Luke? You in? Want to go on a cross country road trip with me? I’d rest easier knowing I’ve got you there to watch my back-”

“No,” His answer was sharp and cold and practically knocked the air out of me. He shook his head, shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor, not meeting my gaze. “No, I can’t,”

I blinked. “Luke, come on-”

“No, I can’t,” He repeated.

I almost didn’t know how to respond. “What do you mean?”

I tried to step towards him, but he backed away. “Percy, I said _no._ Not everything is about you _,”_ and without even looking up, he pushed past me, leaving me standing in the middle of the room like a fucking idiot. I didn’t understand what just happened, but I was breathing heavily, staring at the door my boyfriend just walked out of.

“Uh, Percy, I can go with you,” Grover said behind me, timidly. 

I clenched my fists and nodded. “Uh, yeah, that would be great, Grover, thanks,”

“You all can leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Chiron said gently. “Give you time to say goodbye to... everyone,” I figured that if Chiron hadn’t just witnessed _that_ , he’d be shipping us out before noon. He was a good guy, though, and I appreciated the extra time to figure out what the hell just happened and smooth that over before I left to go confront the Lord of the Underworld.

“I, uh,” I couldn’t bring myself to look at them. It’d been a rough week and only getting worse. “I’ll catch you guys at dinner,” I said, and then I was out the door as quickly as Luke had left. 

Except, I didn’t go to dinner.

I spent all day in the arena, hacking dummies to pieces and getting out all my anger and frustration. Skipped all my activities, ignored all other campers, and didn’t even bother to try and find Luke. I knew him better than that. When he wanted to talk, he’d be there, not a minute sooner. And, call me dramatic, but I didn’t want to see him at dinner if he wasn’t going to talk to me and I certainly didn’t want to see the other head counselors and the sad pathetic looks they’d give me. Lost his mom _and_ found out he was the subject of the Great Prophecy _and_ being blamed for stealing the Master Bolt _and_ has to go to the Underworld to get it? Wouldn’t want to be that guy!

I went out and sat on the beach instead, listening to the waves crash to the shore and staring out at the sunset. I prayed to my dad, too. For a sign, a message, guidance, anything, just _anything_ that would make life a little bit easier right now. And as usual, I got nothing. I’d been getting nothing for six years. Maybe Luke was right. Maybe I really was just being used. I knew Luke didn’t have a great relationship with Hermes, but that was one of those _off limits_ topics. He wouldn’t talk to me about it, not even after we started dating. But I was beginning to understand his resentment. What was the point of having an all powerful godly parent if he couldn’t help out his kid? Fuck that guy.

When the sun sunk under the horizon, I trudged back to my cabin, stomach grumbling. I was starting to wonder if it was possible to sneak into the kitchens and grab leftovers when I saw someone leaning against the side of my cabin.

Ever a vision in moonlight, Luke leaned against the wall with a brown paper bag in his hand. My chest got lighter seeing him there waiting for me, and for a second, I wondered if Poseidon had answered my prayers.

“Hey,” Luke said as I approached.

“Hey,” I said back, shoving my hands in my pockets. 

“You missed dinner,” He said, holding up the bag. “I saved you some leftovers,”

“So you’ve just been standing outside my door like some kind of stalker?” I said, but there was no malice in my voice. The corner of Luke’s lips twinged upwards. 

“Damn straight, hero,” He said as I took the bag from him.

I peered in it. Classic New York Pizza. I decided it was definitely a godsend.

“Excuse me, sir,” I said, looking back up at him. “There’s nothing straight about either of us,” That got a laugh out of him, and I grinned. I nodded my head towards the door. “Come on in,” 

I followed him into the cabin, shut the door behind us, and then sat on my bunk, pulling out the pizza. He joined me, and we sat in silence for a few moments as I scarfed down the pizza. The tension between us was so thick you could cut it with a dagger.

“I’m sorry, Percy,” He said, finally. “About this morning. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that and I didn’t mean what I said,”

I ate the last of the crust and put the bag aside. “I mean, you’re right though. Not everything _is_ about me. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d want to come on the quest with me,”

Luke sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Percy, I freaked out when you asked me about the quest because the last time I went on a quest, I got _this_ ,” He gestured to the scar running down his cheek. I felt like someone had just cracked something inside of me.

“ _Fuck_ ,” I said, scooting closer to him. “Luke, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about that. I _should have_ thought about that

He gave me a sad smile. “It’s okay, you’ve had kind of a shitty week,”

I reached up and cupped the side of his face, gently ran my thumb over his scar. If anybody else tried to touch it, he’d punch them in the gut. But he leaned into my touch. He sighed, and reached up to hold my hand, grip my wrist and look into my eyes. 

“There’s more,” He said. “More reasons why I can’t go on the quest,” He bit his lip, like he was trying to think of the right words to say. “But I dont... I don’t know how much I can tell you,”

I frowned, eyebrows scrunching up. “Luke, you can tell me anything. You know that,”

He nodded, and took a deep breath. “It’s just... do you ever feel like you’ve been abandoned by the gods?”

I hesitated, but I answered truthfully. “Yeah, every damn day of my life,” 

There was something in Luke’s eyes that was... scary. Wild. Fierce. I’d seen it in his eyes a lot recently, and I wasn’t sure that I liked it. It didn’t have the same warmth and openness that I’d fallen in love with. It didn’t look like _my_ Luke.

“Haven’t you ever wanted to do something about it?” He asked, his eyes staring into mine intently. He leaned forward and spoke quietly. Like we were sharing a secret.

I hesitated again, my stomach twisting for a reason I couldn’t explain. But again I answered truthfully: “No, I haven’t,” 

Luke tore his gaze from me and I felt like I’d said something wrong. And I didn’t want to make things worse, but I _had_ to ask: “What happened at the winter solstice, Luke?”

“Percy,” His voice was low and warning. 

“Why didn’t you tell me about the Master Bolt being stolen?” I pressed.

Luke growled. “Forget I said anything,” He leapt to his feet and started towards the door. Typical child of Hermes, running away from his problems.

“No, don’t you fucking _dare_ , Luke,” I said, also leaping to my feet. He froze with his back turned towards me. “You can’t just run away from me this time. Not when I’m right about to go on this fucking quest across country, _without you_ , and I’ve been blamed for a crime I didn’t commit and I’ve lost my mom-” My voice cracked, and Luke’s shoulders sagged. “And I just can’t go on this quest if I’m spending the entire time worried about _whatever_ is going on with you and I just-” I drew in a deep breath, trying not to cry. I’d managed to _not_ cry the entire time I was back at camp and I wasn’t about to start now. “I just need you on my side, Luke,”

Luke ran a hand through his hair and turned back to me, stepped into my space. “Jackson, I am _always_ on your side,” He said, putting his hands on my shoulders. I couldn’t look him in the eyes otherwise it would open the crying floodgates. “And you’re right, you’re about to go on this huge quest, and I don’t want you distracted out there,” He pulled me closer and wrapped me into a tight hug. I let myself sink into him, wrapping my arms around him and breathing in the scent of leather and citrus and a distinctly _Luke_ smell I could never describe. The smell of home.

“There’s a lot of things at play here, Percy,” Luke said, his voice barely above a whisper, sharing another secret with me. “But yours is the only side I want to be on,” He pulled away, and wiped my cheek with his thumb (okay, whatever, you can’t prove that I cried). He studied my face. “I promise, we will talk about _everything_ when you get back. Because you _will_ come back, okay?”

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. I didn’t fully understand what was going on with him, but I trusted him. If he said it could wait, it would wait. If he said he was on my side, he was on my side. I believed him, and more importantly, I believed in _us._

Luke’s hand found the back of my neck, the place it felt most at home, and he pulled me in for a deep kiss. A sure kiss. One that made me feel safe and warm. I placed my hands on his hips, where they belonged, and pulled him with me as we stepped back towards my bunk. I crawled backwards on my mattress and then he was on top of me, eyes hungry. I pulled him down for another kiss, eager and desperate, so _desperate_ to soak up any time I had left with him. 

And as we laid there drifting off to sleep, I couldn’t help but think we looked like an old oil painting: the naked sons of gods wrapped up in each other and in the bedsheets. But I also couldn’t help but acknowledge the feeling in my chest. A feeling that hollowed out my insides and made my stomach twist.

The feeling of finality, of a goodbye. Like this was the last time. 

It didn’t take me long to pack, in the morning. Luke slipped out when the sky was still dark (after another round, just to be honest) and promised he’d meet us at the top of the hill before we left, leaving me to get dressed and pack a backpack. I glanced at my ruined bed and hoped that the cleaning harpies wouldn’t come in and rat us out. Just to be safe, I pulled all the sheets off the bed and stuffed them in the trash can. 

The camp store lent us all the supplies we needed to travel across the country: deodorant, ambrosia squares, gold drachmas, and enough money to get us from New York to California. I won’t be cheeky and tell you how much, but it was way more than, like, I don’t know, a hundred dollars. Could you imagine? If we had to go coast to coast on just a hundred dollars? You could barely get out of Manhattan on that kind of money. 

I digress.

I met Annabeth (who was armed with her dagger and Yankees cap), Grover (who was dressed like a human and armed with his reed pipes and scrap metal), Chiron, and Argus at Thalia’s Tree. Chiron was explaining to us that Argus would be driving us into the city when Luke came running up the hill to meet us carrying a pair of shoes.

“Hey,” he panted. “Glad I caught you. I come bearing gifts,” He held out the pair of basketball shoes in Grover’s direction. They looked kind of normal, even smelled kind of normal, until Luke said “ _Maia!”_ and the shoes sprouted white, feathery wings. 

“Cool!” Grover said, leaping up to grab the shoes.

Luke grinned at him, but something sad flickered across his face. “They served me well on my first quest, and I figure you could use a new pair of shoes for a new quest,” Grover’s eyes were shining. He turned to Annabeth next, grabbing something out of his back pocket.

“What are you, the Wizard of Oz?” She joked.

He grinned at her, and pulled out a brand new pocket sized book. Her eyes got so wide I could see the whites of them. “Simon and Schuster’s Pocket Guide to Architecture?” Her jaw dropped, and she threw her arms around the taller blonde. “Luke! You shouldn’t have!”

He laughed and hugged her back. “Figured you could use a little light reading for the trip,”

And when Luke turned to me, his expression was so genuine that I wanted to swoon under his blue eyes. He pulled from his pocket something small and silver. He stepped closer to me and held up so I could see it: a silver snake ring. 

“The other day you and Annabeth were teaching about tragic lovers, and now you’re going down to the Underworld,” He said, his eyes focused and intent. “On Orpheus and Eurydice’s wedding day, she was bitten by a snake and was sent to the Underworld. Now, I can’t be like Orpheus and follow you down there, and it didn’t work out so well for them anyway,” He pressed the ring into the palm of my hand. “So I need you to come back to me anyway, hero,” 

I closed my hand around the ring and looked up at him with sparkling eyes. “Luke-” I started to say, voice cracking, but he shook his head. 

“Take this, so you know that I’m on your side,” He said, his voice low enough only for the two of us to hear and his warm hands taking my own. 

I kissed him in response. Surged forward and pulled him in close. 

I was once told that since the invention of the kiss, there were only five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. I’m not sure that I could compete with the top five kisses in the whole _world._ But kissing Luke goodbye, with the sun rising over the water and the wind blowing ever so softly, kissing him like I didn’t know when I’d get to see him again or _if_ I’d get to see him again, I figured we at least had a shot at the title.

The last thing I saw before Argus pulled away was Luke standing under Thalia’s tree, blonde hair blowing in the wind and hand raised up in goodbye. I watched him fade away as the van drove away until he disappeared in the woods, my heart aching. Then I slipped the snake ring onto my beaded necklace, and turned forward in my seat.

The quest had begun.


End file.
